Space invader

We have stayed in houses where MrsM refused to sleep until she had been around all the rooms removing black mould from the walls. We have stayed in houses where rainwater was running down the inside of a bedroom wall in the night, and ceiling plaster fell on to the bed before morning. We have stayed in houses in which the living-room was 'decorated' by a stuffed adult swan in a glass cabinet (this was not mentioned in any of the letting details). We have stayed in houses with no bathroom, where hot water meant boil the kettle (to be fair, we signed up for this)

The house where we have spent the past few weeks is above all of this: warm, comfortale, tastefully renovated and decorated, water and windproof. Well-equipped. All the more surprising, then, to find this on the inside of the front door this morning. Has it been there all along and have we just become aware, or has it grown rapidly? Is it our fault? I think it is a jelly-ear fungus; I have not much idea how rapidly that can grow. In case it's not, I will leave it alone 

The one peculiarity of the house is that is 'upside down': the bedrooms are downstairs. We only heat the bedrooms at getting up and bed-time. All evening we have a hot log stove upstairs and the heat does not travel downstairs - the exact opposite of our home, where our log-heated living room warms our bedroom above. I wonder if warm, damp air from the living (and cooking) space circulates as far as the downstairs hall and condenses on the back of a cold front door. In the bottom corners it may have got through the paint and penetrated the wood. That may be enough for life to take hold

We spent the day with old friends. One of them explained that they manage their moods - and stave off low spirits - by simply finding a job to do outside. I can understand that. The experience of being surrounded by the living world, appreciating the power of the force for life, can be a balm and an encouragement. I'm glad we don't have black mould on the walls; I'm sorry our landlord may have to buy a new door, but the fact that this primitive lifeform does not respect our space or our intentions makes me secretly gleeful